Justice: Enough with Clemens trade talk

Enough with the trade talk: Home is sweet for Clemens

Published 5:30 am, Saturday, June 4, 2005

He was there for his son's final high school baseball game. The hug they shared afterward reminded Roger Clemens why he wanted to come home in the first place.

"If I'd been in Milwaukee watching a game and missed that moment with Koby, that would have been the worst," he said. "That's the hardest he has ever hugged me. I told him that's why we love what we do. We love this game."

That hug tells you why he's not leaving the Astros, why this is the last big-league uniform he'll wear. No matter what you read or hear, remember that hug.

"I won't ask to be traded," he said. "Even if the Astros want to trade me, they're going to have to sell it to me.

"I fought for a long time to come home and play. I didn't think it would be this good."

"I can't foresee any circumstances under which we'd trade Roger," he said.

You'll continue to read stories about Clemens finishing this season with the Yankees, Red Sox or Rangers. You'll read that he's got a wandering eye, that he wants one more October ride and that he realizes he can't get it with this team.

There's just one problem with those stories. They're based on guesswork. They're based on nothing.

Next time someone tells you a story about Clemens going here or there, tell them about the hug.

This week, a New York newspaper reported Clemens would be agreeable to finishing the season with the Rangers.

Earlier, he'd been connected to the Yankees and Red Sox.

Clemens had danced around the topic in previous interviews. He seemed conflicted.

At 42, he's pitching as well as he ever has. He's got the National League's best ERA at 1.30 but is only 3-3.

In his 11 starts, the Astros have scored 18 runs.

In Clemens' starts, the Astros have been shut out four times and scored two or fewer runs four other times.

He should be on his way to an eighth Cy Young Award.

Instead, he's stuck on a bad team.

He admits to being frustrated by the losing. But he's not angling to leave. Any trade talk would have to start with the Astros.

"I'm here," Clemens said, "until Drayton or Tim (Purpura, general manager) come to me and say, 'Listen, we're not going to win, and we can get two, three or four stud prospects for you. We know you're going to come back and work for the organization. What do you think?'

"I'd have to sit down and consider that. But even that would be hard because of what we did last year. We came back and made the playoffs when everyone thought we were dead.

"Who says lightning can't strike twice?"

Trading Clemens might bring enough young talent to help the Astros replenish a depleted farm system. What they'd lose would be even more valuable.

From the moment McLane signed Clemens, he understood that pitching was only part of the deal.

Clemens raised the value of the franchise the moment he put the uniform on. He gave the Astros a credibility and a presence they hadn't had.

McLane also understands that the darkest day in Astros history came in 1988 when then-owner John McMullen allowed Nolan Ryan to sign with the Rangers.

"That was a watershed moment for both franchises, wasn't it?" McLane said.

Yes, it was.

The Rangers believe Ryan helped the club to a level of popularity it never had. Houston fans never forgave McMullen.

"I think if you study my history, you can understand how I'm going to handle this," McLane said. "I'm the guy who kept Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell here. I dug deep to keep them.

"I believe Roger is sincere when he says he wants to be here. We certainly want him."

Indeed.

McLane has just finished that sentence when there's a knock on the door of a conference room at Minute Maid Park. He looks up to see Roger and Koby Clemens and agent Alan Hendricks.

The four men trade small talk for a few minutes. It's the kind of comfortable chat the friends have with one another. It feels like four people who are in it together for the long haul.

When Clemens departs, McLane says: "Don't you think he wants to stay?"